Battle on the Cam with punt firm in pole position
THE war over the Cam has intensified with the dominant punting firm’s owner now having a senior position on the body issuing licences to operate on the river.
Amid allegations of a conflict of interest, James Macnaghten, an Old Etonian who owns Scudamore’s punts in Cambridge, is now also deputy chairman of Conservators of the River Cam, the authority in charge of the river in the university city. One of its main duties is deciding who should and should not get punt operating licences.
Mr Macnaghten is one of 13 Conservators while his business partner, Rod Ingersent, is an official Conservators “observer”.
Scudamore’s, which dismissed claims of a conflict, controls almost half the lucrative punting market.
In the cut-and-thrust world of punting – an industry thought to be worth millions of pounds a year – competitors who do not have licences say that is unfair.
Tom Arnold, who runs Traditional Cambridge Tours, which has been operating 12 chauffeured boats on the Cam for a decade but does not have a licence, said: “We are just a few guys who enjoy what we do.
“We are quite happy competing against other punting companies and all we want is that same fair crack of the whip.
“In the end, it will be bad for the consumer if one company is allowed to get a monopoly on the river, as that will give them the pricing power to make huge profits.
“It feels to us like a conflict of interest. It feels to us like a stitch-up.”
Guardians of the river say that the controls are vital to reduce overcrowding. Only six companies have licences to operate punts on the Cam, of which Scudamore’s, by far the biggest, is one.
The licensed companies must operate according to a strict code of conduct and pay a hefty fee for each boat on the river.
Mr Ingersent, who is Scudamore’s managing director, said: “If anything comes up [at the Conservators] where you have a personal interest you have to stand aside and don’t get involved.
“For example, if something came up on punting he [Mr Macnaghten] must declare an interest and he has no further part to play. All the Cam Conservators have different interests.”
He said the regulations for handing out licences were set in 2012 before Mr Macnaghten was appointed.
Problems for the unlicensed firms have been compounded by a Cambridge council crackdown.
Touting for punting business has been banned since September last year, when the city council introduced £75 fixed penalty notices.
Now it has applied to the High Court for an injunction, which would mean anyone using its land without permission to launch punts could be prosecuted for contempt of court – leading to a fine or even a jail sentence.